Once in a while, you will find yourself in a situation where the product you want to buy is much cheaper than the shipping cost you are going to pay to get the product.
You may wonder how does this happen? Is the seller nuts to sell a product this cheap?
Let’s discuss under what circumstances you may incur the high shipping cost.
Here Are The Reasons That Cause High Shipping Costs:
Purchasing small items from far away will cause high shipping costs. purchasing a product large or heavy also lead to high shipping cost. High shipping costs could also be the seller’s promotion strategy. They use lower product costs to attract customers but raise shipping costs to break even
Small-Item But Long-Distance Cause High Shipping Cost
From time to time you find that you need something small but you must have it to make the whole thing works. For example one special cable or connector for your computer or laptop. you must have this connector otherwise you can not use your laptop. The connector probably only costs you $5, but when you purchase online the one connector’s shipping cost is probably $5.99 or $7.99. so here you can see the shipping cost is higher than a product.
if you are a buyer and you try to cut the high shipping cost on the small items, you can do the below:
- Buy small items in bulk. For example, you can buy in bulk, connectors, type, boxes, and small items that you are using regularly. instead of buying one at a time, buy several of them at once and store them. You only pay shipping once to get several products to hold you for a while.
- Buy small items locally. if you do not want stock items in your home, you can try to find a local store that carries this item and buy from there to save the shipping cost.
- Meet minimum order quantity. Many sellers on eCommerce have minimum order quantity requests. Most times you will figure out that shipping one piece or ship one dozen pieces will cost you the same, so why not buy a dozen to meet the seller’s minimum order quantity request to save money.
Also Read:
Who Is Responsible For Shipping Fee? Buyer or Seller?
Who Is Responsible For Shipping Fee? Buyer or Seller?
Is Shipping A Fixed Cost, Direct Cost, Or Variable Cost? (Explained)
The Product Is Too Heavy or Too Big-Will Cause High Shipping Cost
Carrier will charge the shipping cost based on either product’s dimensional weight or real weight, whichever is bigger. When physical weight is less than the volumetric then you have to pay for volumetric weight. Different carriers use different factors to calculate the dimensional weight.
The general rule of thumb is 1cbm = 200kgs (this formula only provides you a rough idea, not an accurate price).
If your product is 1cbm in volume but less than 200kgs, you are going to pay the shipping cost for 200kgs.
If your product is less than 1cbm in volume but over 200kgs, then you will pay whatever the physical weight of the product.
You can either buy locally or pick up the product yourself to skip the high shipping cost on the heavy or big items.
Try to find a local store that carries this item and buy it locally.
Try to find whether this manufacturer has a warehouse or distribution center close to you. You can ask the shipper to deliver the product to their warehouse or DC, instead of delivering it to your home. You can save the shipping cost by picking it up yourself.
I pick up the products I purchased online all the time, especially shoes, clothes.
When I order online, I always choose to deliver to their branch store in my city. I can try the clothes or shoes right away while I am there picking up my stuff. I can return it right away if it doesn’t fit. I cannot tell how much money I wasted on clothes, shoes, that doesn’t fit, but I do not want the trouble to return them. I saved so much money by picking up locally.
Seller’s Strategy To Use Low Product Price Attract Customers And Earn Profit Through High Shipping Charges
Some dishonest sellers intentionally lower their product’s price to a very cheap position to attract more people to buy it.
Since they can not earn money on the product itself so they charge high shipping charges to cover their profit. As a consumer, we should be aware of this kind of trick. Just remind yourself that there is no free lunch. Don’t be penny smart and pound foolish.
Be very cautious on some fishing websites. They use the very low price to deceive you to click on their website.
when you think you get a bargain you do not realize that a sky-high shipping cost is waiting for you.
To make things even worse, this kind of website will not show you the shipping charges until you put in your credit card information and click purchase.
if you ever bump on this kind of website, I suggest you do not buy anything from this website and leave as soon as you can.
Who Hates It When The Shipping Costs More Than The Item? Buyer Or Seller?
Both buyers and sellers will hate it when the shipping costs more than the item
Buyers hate it because they can not buy the product they needed at a fair shipping price. Customers enjoy less online shopping because of the high shipping cost.
I do not know how many times I abandoned the shopping cart because of the $12.99 shipping cost
Honest Sellers also hate it because they can not sell their products. Most consumers will not buy it if the shipping costs more than the product.
Genuine sellers do not earn any profit through shipping. Many online sellers do not even have the right to set up the shipping cost because the website already set up a fixed flat rate for them.
What will you choose higher price free shipping or lower price expensive shipping
I believe neither one should be our choice. All of us should promote fair prices for a high-quality product with reasonable shipping costs. We as consumers must use our common sense when shopping.
Dirt cheap price means dirt cheap quality, remember that you will get what you pay for. Corrupt sellers will have less and less chance to survive if we are all conscious customers
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